


Perfect

by artikgato



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Boys Kissing, Fluff, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 12:00:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9070726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artikgato/pseuds/artikgato
Summary: “Wha-” Yosuke gasped, then he scrambled to stand up and rush over to where Souji was standing now. “Wait a minute, so there is someone you like?!”
“Why are you surprised? Weren’t you just insisting that there must be someone?” Souji pointed out. He could feel heat in his cheeks and hoped desperately that he wasn’t visibly blushing.
“I was bluffing! I didn’t expect it to work...holy shit, Partner, who is it!?” he demanded, and Souji sighed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, have a g-rated fic set in March.

“You know what I don’t get?” Yosuke asked one day, turning to face Souji with a thoughtful frown on his face. It was March, and though the nights were still cold, the days were pleasantly warm enough for the two of them to sit on the bank of the Samegawa - like they were doing now - and just hang out. Enjoy each-others’ company.

“Hm?” Souji asked, turning his attention away from an adorable tabby cat on the other side of the river to face his best friend. Sensing that he now had Souji’s undivided attention, Yosuke continued.

“You’ve been here for almost a whole year and you haven’t gone on a single date with anyone, not once,” Yosuke pointed out. Souji blinked, then chuckled.

“I went out with Ai Ebihara, remember?” he pointed out, and Yosuke sighed.

“You and I both know that doesn’t count,” Yosuke replied.

“And why not?” Souji asked, amused.

“You told me yourself she was interested in Kou Ichijou, and just wanted to go out with you for emotional support or something,” Yosuke replied, with a huff. “And you didn’t like her, anyway.”

“Ai Ebihara is a lovely girl,” Souji replied, with a grin. “...but you’re right, I wasn’t interested in her romantically.”

“Exactly, so it doesn’t count,” Yosuke said, pointing a finger at him accusatorily. “So you’ve been here for almost a year and haven’t gone on a single date with _anyone_ that you’re actually interested in. Why is that?”

“Would you believe me if I said I just didn’t want to?” Souji asked, with a shrug. Yosuke frowned.

“No,” Yosuke replied, flat. “There isn’t _anyone_ you like? No way.”

“And why is that so hard for you to believe?” Souji asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

“Because!” Yosuke huffed, throwing his hands up dramatically. Souji rolled his eyes.

“Because…?” he asked, and Yosuke rolled his eyes right back.

“There _has_ to be someone you like,” Yosuke pressed, and Souji sighed.

“You’re not going to stop asking, are you?” he asked.

“Nope!” Yosuke replied. Then he scooted a little closer to Souji, eyes narrowed, as if to make his point. Souji groaned in exasperation.

“It doesn’t matter anyway, does it? I’m going to be leaving soon,” Souji sighed out, standing up and walking toward the river with a huff. That, evidently, was not the answer Yosuke had been expecting.

“Wha-” Yosuke gasped, then he scrambled to stand up and rush over to where Souji was standing now. “Wait a minute, so there _is_ someone you like?!”

“Why are you surprised? Weren’t you _just_ insisting that there _must_ be someone?” Souji pointed out. He could feel heat in his cheeks and hoped desperately that he wasn’t visibly blushing.

“I was bluffing! I didn’t expect it to work...holy shit, Partner, _who is it_?” he demanded, and Souji sighed.

“You sound like a gossipy housewife,” he deflected. Yosuke just made an annoyed noise and leaned into his personal space again.

“Whooooo iiiiissss iiiiittt?” he asked again, drawing out the syllables.

“I am _not_ telling you,” Souji refused. Yosuke pouted, and Souji, despite trying really hard not to, found the pout to be absolutely adorable. _I’m done for_ , he couldn’t help thinking.

“Why not?” Yosuke asked, still pouting, and Souji had to all but wrench his vision away from those caramel eyes and adorable freckles to look out over the water. His blush was definitely visible now, and he was sure that if Yosuke knew _he_ was the reason for it, he’d probably run screaming into the water in response.

“It wouldn’t be fair,” Souji replied. “I’m leaving soon, remember?”

“C’mon, Partner, I’m dying to know! I promise I won’t tell them!” Yosuke barrelled on, oblivious to the torture he was putting his best friend through.

“No,” Souji refused again.

“Paaaaartneeeeer,” Yosuke groaned, and Souji had to bite his lip to keep his thoughts in check, because _god damn_ he would have given basically anything to hear that again but in a different context, preferably in his room with Yosuke under him and pressed into his futon, and…

“Don’t you trust me?” Yosuke continued, and Souji had to grit his teeth in response.

“Of course I do, Yosuke. You’re being unfair,” Souji reprimanded, folding his arms.

“Then tell me? Please? You might even feel better, knowing someone else knows your secret!” Yosuke continued to pester him, and he sighed.

“I’m sure I would, but I...I can’t, I’m sorry,” Souji sighed, closing his eyes and bringing his hands up to rub at his temples. He wanted to tell Yosuke to just stop asking him, but he knew he’d have to be rude about it to actually get his point across, and Yosuke was surprisingly sensitive…

“...why?” Yosuke asked, and he could hear the hurt expression that he was sure the other was wearing. Souji had to grit his teeth again.

“They...don’t like me the way I like them. If they knew, it would just hurt them, and I’d rather spend my last couple of weeks here on good terms with everyone,” Souji finally explained, trying his best to keep things as cryptic as possible. The less information he gave Yosuke, the better. Eventually, the small headache that had been building up to subsided, and he opened his eyes, realizing that Yosuke had gone silent. He looked over at him, to find him wearing an incredulous look.

“...what?” Souji finally asked, and Yosuke let out a bitter laugh.

“As if anyone in this dumb town wouldn’t like _you_ ,” Yosuke explained, and Souji almost wanted to laugh at the sheer, frustrating irony. But he could hear the self-deprecation in Yosuke’s reply, too, so he didn’t.

“I’m not…” Souji started, faltered, then let his gaze fall to the ground below them. “I appreciate that you think so highly of me, Yosuke, but…”

“Look, just-” Yosuke interrupted, then flinched and abruptly stopped when Souji looked up at him. He huffed, and looked out at the water. “All I’m saying is...you’ve only got a couple more weeks here, yeah? If you like somebody, you should be spending that time with the person you like, right?”

“I already am,” Souji replied, without thinking. He didn’t even realize he’d replied out loud until Yosuke’s wide, shocked eyes were on him, mouth open in surprise. He jumped back, furiously trying to backpedal. “I, um, I mean! N-not like...I mean, you’re my best friend and...it’s not...I don’t have anyone else I’d rather be spending time with, honestly-”

“Souji,” Yosuke said, and the way he said it - hard but somehow wavering, not to mention the fact that it was his _name_ and not “Partner”, made Souji instantly shut up and pay attention. Yosuke might have had the courage to cut off his nervous ramblings, but he didn’t quite have the courage to look at him, it seemed, because his head was down, gaze trained on the ground. His hands were trembling by his sides, Souji noted, and he vaguely wondered if Yosuke was going to punch him - honestly, it wouldn’t have surprised Souji one bit.

“Am I…” Yosuke started, then shook his head a little and took a deep breath. “Is it me? That...doesn’t like you...the way you like them?”

“I don’t think you want me to answer that,” Souji murmured, after a few seconds of agonizing silence. Evidently, that wasn’t the answer Yosuke wanted, because he looked up at him, finally, with his brow furrowed and his mouth pressed into a long, flat line.

“I _asked_ , didn’t I?” he demanded, and Souji sighed.

“It...it is,” Souji finally admitted. “You...are.” He caught a brief flash of surprise on Yosuke’s features, before he had to look away, nearly turning bodily away from his friend.

“So what, um,” Yosuke started, audibly swallowing before he continued, “what makes you think that I don’t like you back?”

“Don’t do this to me,” Souji begged, squeezing his eyes shut and bringing his hands up to cover his face, threading his fingers into his bangs with a shaky sigh. “You...you don’t need to lie or force yourself to feel anything. I know you’re not like that, I saw how you reacted to Kanji’s Shadow, so please…” he eventually just trailed off. He wanted to run away, honestly, but his feet felt glued to the spot.

“Look at me?” Yosuke asked, suddenly a lot closer, and Souji nearly jumped in surprise. Slowly, he pulled his hands away from his face and opened his eyes. Yosuke was in front of him, of course, and he didn’t look disgusted or betrayed or even angry. Souji wasn’t really sure _what_ he looked like, and he didn’t really get a good look at Yosuke anyway, because he suddenly leaned in and tilted his head, pressing a shaky, feather-light kiss against Souji’s lips before pulling away. And now Souji could place the emotion on his face as nervous. He looked like he’d just laid his entire soul bare for Souji.

And Souji’s head just felt empty. He couldn’t even comprehend what had happened, let alone try to think of what to do next. After a few seconds of him just staring, slack-jawed, Yosuke chuckled a little, sounding anxious.

“Um, was that okay?” he asked, and that snapped Souji out of it.

“I don’t know,” he replied, still a little dazed. “I think we need to do it again before I can tell.” He couldn’t help but smile when Yosuke practically bowled him over, pressing a much firmer kiss to his lips this time.

 

* * *

 

“I liked you from the very beginning, you know?” Yosuke said. Souji had to crane his head a little to look up and meet his eyes, from where Souji was laying with his head on Yosuke’s chest. Yosuke was grinning softly down at him, head propped up on one elbow, the other draped over Souji’s own chest. Yosuke looked breathtaking in the orange light of the sunset. Souji briefly considered telling him that, but decided against it. He could tell him another day, but this...thing between them was still too new for him to risk it.

“Really?” he asked, instead.

“Mmhmm,” Yosuke hummed in response, and Souji liked the way he could feel the sound of it thrum through him. “From the moment you pulled me out of that trash can.”

“But…?” Souji prompted, sensing that Yosuke wanted to say more.

“I was confused, at first. I thought it was probably me just confusing gratitude with...um, a crush. Like...like I did with Saki-sempai. And you were a guy, anyway, so there was no way I could _like_ you, right? That’s what I told myself, anyway. And I just _kept_ telling myself that for _months_.”

“Yosuke…” Souji sighed, but Yosuke shook his head.

"I wanted to talk to you about it all along, but I was so scared that you’d think I was weird, or stop hanging out with me and...you...you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, you know?” Yosuke asked.

“What about your friends back in the city?” Souji asked, heart in his throat. It was totally selfish of him, but he wanted to hear Yosuke deny it, and say-

“They were assholes, all of them. I didn’t even realize it until you came along. I’ve _never_ had someone like you around, Souji,” Yosuke replied, and Souji felt butterflies in his stomach for what felt like the hundredth time today.

“That...thank you,” Souji replied, trying really hard not to sound as choked up as he felt.

“But...can you imagine? Finally having a friend around like _you_ and then going and developing _feelings_...I was convinced I’d ruin everything if I told you,” Yosuke replied, and Souji chuckled.

“Oh no, I have _no_ idea what _that_ could be like,” he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. He impulsively grabbed Yosuke’s free hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Yosuke went totally red, frowning down at him.

“Jerk,” he grumbled, but didn’t try to move his hand at all. Souji grinned and turned the hand over, pressing a kiss to each of the pads of Yosuke’s fingers and watching his blush grow in intensity with each one.

“I was worried for so long that I’d slip up one day and you’d figure out how I felt,” Souji said, not letting go of Yosuke’s hand but instead slipping his own into it, rubbing slow, gentle circles into the palm with his thumb as he explained. “I never thought for even a second that you’d be okay with it...I thought for sure that you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me if you knew, and I didn’t want that at all, because you’re the best friend _I’ve_ ever had, too.”

“Seriously?” Yosuke asked, sitting up a little to look down at him. Souji nodded. “ _I’m_ the best friend you’ve ever had? But I’m so...”

“You should give yourself more credit,” Souji scolded. “You’re really great, you know.”

“It’s just that I can’t imagine you not being popular at the other schools you went to,” Yosuke explained.

“Being popular doesn’t necessarily mean I had friends...and anyway, I wasn’t really _popular_ at my old schools,” Souji explained.

“What?” Yosuke asked, with a laugh. “You?”

“Believe it or not, I was kind of a loner before I came to Inaba,” Souji continued. Yosuke laid back down, and Souji rolled over a bit, facing up at the gradually darkening sky to continue his explanation. “My parents moved me around so much that after awhile I just stopped trying to make friends. I didn’t intend to make any friends here either but…”

“The Midnight Channel kind of made that plan difficult, huh?” Yosuke asked. Souji grinned.

“I was _going_ to say,” Souji started, with a breathless laugh, “I had to help a certain _someone_ out of a trashcan on the second day of school, and my plans changed.”

“...I’m glad,” Yosuke replied, after a beat of comfortable silence.

“Me too,” Souji replied, and he meant it. He really, really meant it.

“So then,” Yosuke started. He was blushing, Souji realized, when he looked up at him. “How do you want to spend your last couple of weeks here?” Souji paused, thought it over for a second, and then let his face split in a smirk. He sat up, and when Yosuke looked disappointed for a brief instant he felt positively _giddy_ , which only spurred him faster into action. He moved to straddle Yosuke’s stomach, silencing the surprised squawk of protest by leaning down and all but crushing their lips together.

He still had the presence of mind to be worried that maybe this was too much for Yosuke, and so couldn’t help grinning with relief when he felt hands slide into his hair, turning his head just slightly enough to press their lips together more firmly. They kissed for what felt like forever and paradoxically not nearly long enough before Souji pulled back for air, hands bracketing Yosuke’s head and pushing away just enough that they could both catch their breath.

“G-good idea,” Yosuke panted, then pulled him back down for another kiss, and another and another. It was totally dark and starting to get cold by the time they finally separated, Souji having to flop over on his back beside Yosuke to catch his breath and cool down a little.

“Out of curiosity, who did you think I liked?” Souji suddenly asked. He rolled onto his side and propped himself up to look at Yosuke, who was still breathing a little heavily, he noted with pride.

“I was really hoping it was me,” Yosuke confessed, with an adorable blush high on his cheeks. “But honestly? Until you said the thing about them not liking you back I was sure you were talking about Rise or Yukiko.”

“And after that?” Souji prompted. Yosuke shrugged.

“I dunno, Naoto?” Yosuke asked. “I thought for a second you were talking about Kanji, too, but…” he trailed off, shrugging again.

“I tried to like them,” Souji murmured, and Yosuke blinked, rolling over onto his side to mirror Souji’s pose and look at him. “I figured that you were never going to like me back, so I tried to make myself like them. Rise, Yukiko, Chie, Naoto, Kanji, Kou and Daisuke from soccer, Ayane from band, even Ai Ebihara. But in the end I couldn’t like any of them they way I liked you.”

“Oh,” Yosuke replied, voice quiet.

“They all know,” Souji continued. Yosuke shot up into a sitting position in alarm.

“H-huh?!” he squeaked, panicked, and Souji reached out and pulled him back down by a shoulder, shaking his head.

“Not about this,” he replied, gesturing vaguely to the space between their bodies. “They all knew that I had feelings for...someone else. I had to tell some of them, but some of them figured it out on their own. None of them know I like _you_ , but I’m sure if they all got together and corroborated the evidence, they could figure it out pretty easily...heh…”

“Oh...” Yosuke replied, still blushing. Souji smiled over at him, reassuring.

“Nobody has to know if you don’t want them to, Yosuke. We can keep it between us,” he replied. Yosuke took in a deep breath, then let it out.

“You’ll only be here for another couple of weeks,” he started, reaching out and grabbing the hand that was resting between them on the grass, fitting his own hand into it and squeezing, gently. “And I want to spend as much time with you as I can, so...I’m okay with everyone knowing.”

“Yosuke,” Souji replied, unable and unwilling to disguise the fondness in his voice. Yosuke turned red.

“W-well, maybe not _everyone_. Just...the Investigation Team, maybe,” he amended.

“Sure,” Souji replied, easily.

“And...e-even once you go back to the city...this doesn’t have to end, right? We can call or text…” Yosuke continued.

“Of course,” Souji said, fond smile growing. “And I was already planning on coming back to visit on every major holiday.”

“And _I_ was already planning on moving back to the city after I graduate!” Yosuke announced, a wide grin plastered on his face. “Of course...I have to actually _graduate_ first...ugh, I don’t know how I’m gonna study without you here…”

“We can study over video chat,” Souji suggested. “But I won’t be there to whisper answers to you anymore, so you’ll actually have to pay attention in class.”

“...I’m gonna miss you,” Yosuke replied, and it seemed so candid and heartfelt that Souji actually felt touched. Then he practically launched himself, pushing Souji over onto his back and rolling on top of him, a mirror of earlier. Souji laughed, and Yosuke leaned down to kiss him, and for the moment, everything was right in the world. Even though it was really starting to get cold, and their clothes were getting damp, and they only had a brief window of time before Souji was going to leave...right now, everything was perfect.


End file.
